HW: 'Motorheed' (the song)

[Doug Pearson]

On Fri, 4 Jun 1999 18:51:54 GMT, andrew <andrew at DELUMINATE.FREESERVE.CO.UK>
wrote:

>someone on the bomp list has tracked down HW's version of Motorhead on
Ambient
>Anarchists (which i have to say sounds a lot weaker than the vinyl version -
>digital mastering? Pah!) but since i mentioned 'the other version' got
curious
>about this'n.
>
>Despite its superlative-requiring excellence the codex couldn't furnish me
with
>any details so what's the story behind the version on Independent Days?

I'll start by saying that this is pure speculation on my part ...

It's pretty obvious that the rhythm parts (bass, drums, rhythm guitar) are
the same on both versions; if they're not the exact same tracks, then
they're from a near-identical alternate take.

The next thing that strikes me is that the synths sound (to me) more
late-70s/early-80s than early-70s (specifically, they sound more like a
Korg MS-20, which is included on the 'Church Of Hawkwind' equipment list
and is a very obvious and identifiable sound to me on most of the early-80s
live HW recordings I've heard, than a EMS Synthi VCS3).  This leads me to
believe that the synth overdubs were done shortly before the track was
released (on the single with "Valium Ten" circa 1981), rather than when the
rhythm tracks were recorded (1975).   If that's the case, the next question
would be whether Dave's lead vocals and lead guitar were also recorded in
the early-80s; the guitar (and synth!) solos DO sound reminiscent of the
way the Fast Eddie version of Motorhead played them (check out 'No Sleep
Til Hammersmith') to me.

So my overall guess (only a guess!) is that Dave had a rough mix of the
rhythm tracks (definitely a common recording practice to listen extensively
to rough mixes of basic tracks before doing overdubs), and overdubbed lead
vocals, lead guitar, and synths in the early 80s for the Flicknife release.

If anyone has more concrete evidence to confirm or contradict my suspicions
... let's hear 'em!

        -Doug
         ceres at sirius.com